I just read an article in the Lewis County News by Lynnette Hoffman about Sheriff Rob Snaza’s testimony at the Board of County Commissioners’ meeting concerning the proposed YMCA camp at Mineral Lake.
I found some things she said were done in very poor taste. I used to think there was a code of ethics in journalism, to avoid bias, be honest, give us all the facts, and seek the truth providing a fair and comprehensive account of the issue. It’s disturbing that Hoffman exposed her bias, and would feel she needed to make sarcastic remarks about our sheriff to further her political agenda.
Only the Lewis County commissioners can approve funding for the two additional deputies Snaza requested, but this was denied. There’s only one deputy covering the entire east end of Lewis County. That’s approximately 1,300 square miles. The YMCA plans to add 500 additional people into the Mineral area, which is the extreme northern part of the county. An hour away from Packwood. That’s nearly tripling Mineral’s current population. The YMCA group didn’t reach out to the sheriff to discuss their plans and how to provide safety to their influx of residents.
Lewis County is one of the most popular counties in our state for summer activities; so, there’s already a very high traffic increase of people during this time. Mineral Lake is 277 acres large and has a maximum depth of 34 feet. Hoffman’s attempt to joke about the only dangers are kids with squirt guns and how outlandish it would be to think drugs could be an issue, was immature to say the least. Aside from the sheriff’s consideration of response times, others have voiced their concerns. If Hoffman would have done her journalistic duty, she would’ve found an article in The Chronicle in May 2020 when Minerals’ fire commissioner expressed that on behalf of the fire district the department wouldn’t be able to provide adequate emergency services to the proposed development. In addition, the planned dock and water activities would require the department to acquire fire and rescue watercraft and additional training which they did not have the funds to do. For an adult and a journalist to boot, to be playing down the importance of children’s safety is shameful.
Hoffman never shared with her subscribers that all those new residents could be at risk for drinking high levels of arsenic that is found throughout the Mineral area. The Washington State Department of Health’s Office of Drinking Water concluded water quality and/or quantity of water could be potential deal breakers for this development. In YMCA’s pre-submission application, the organization estimated it would need about 30,000 gallons of water per day. Senior environmental health specialist for Lewis County provided well logs that showed obtaining enough water for this project could be troublesome. How would the strain of obtaining available good water compromise the existing residents’ wells in the Mineral area?
Making this a political issue is suspect for pushing an alternative motive.
Chris Granger
Silver Creek
